iPhone SE review: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Apple iPhone SE

Quick Verdict

The iPhone SE retains classic Apple style if that's important to you and it's the cheapest iPhone you can buy outright. The lack of real internal updates means that it's well behind the rest of the iPhone pack, though.

Apple’s iPhone SE is a decent member of the iPhone family, but it’s let down rather badly by its battery life and the fact that Apple seems reluctant to update its internal specifications.

The Apple iPhone SE is a curious member of the Apple iPhone family. Where Apple's general approach has been to provide new iPhone models with refined designs, it instead took a step backwards with the iPhone SE. It is perhaps easiest summed up as most of the innards of an iPhone 6s stuffed into the body of an iPhone 5s, although as we found, the reality of using it was very mixed.

Design

Classic small iPhone design

Surprisingly heavy for such a small phone

The iPhone SE is undeniably based on the iPhone 5/5s design, down to the point where if you have older 5/5s accessories such as cases, they will work perfectly on the newer phone.

It’s a design that’s very old in Apple design terms, but it’s a testament to Apple’s strong industrial design chops that the iPhone SE is still a great looking phone. If you’re not a fan of "phablet" style handsets, the style and general hand feel of the iPhone SE could be a major selling point.

It's also notable because, unlike newer iPhone models, you do still get a headphone jack to use if wired headphones are your preference. The iPhone SE's metallic casing does mean it's a little heavier than you might expect such a small phone to be.

Camera

A simple single-lens camera

Older camera tech is showing its age

The iPhone SE features the same essential camera module as the iPhone 6s. That means what you get is a single 12MP camera at the rear. At the time of launch, Apple hyped up the use of larger individual pixels for improved low-light performance, but the practical reality is that it's now been well and truly eclipsed by newer phones in its price bracket, not to mention the spectacular results you can get out of true premium handsets.

The iPhone SE's camera was decent but not great when it was new and advances in camera technology have somewhat left it behind by now.

We did find in testing that the smaller screen size was something of a boon when stabilising the phone for shots as well. It’s 4K capable if that floats your boat, although of course you can’t actually watch 4K content on the iPhone SE’s display screen.

Performance

Reasonable mid-range performance

Lack of expandable storage hurts

Apple Pay is handy

The iPhone SE shares the A9 processor found in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, so it should be a capable performer.

Its age means that it's well and truly not top of the tier. However, it’s impressive in a small body phone, because for the most part this is a segment of the market where vendors tend to throw lower power processors and memory into.

Here is how the iPhone SE stacks up in the cross-platform Geekbench 3 test against contemporary phones from when it was new:

Handset

Geekbench 3 Single Core (higher is better)

Geekbench 3 Multi Core (higher is better)

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

2169

6446

Samsung Galaxy S7

2156

6240

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+

1492

4893

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

1324

4626

Google Nexus 6P

1251

4597

Samsung Galaxy S6

1347

4569

Apple iPhone SE

2538

4455

Apple iPhone 6S

2540

4410

Apple iPhone 6S Plus

2491

4391

Sony Xperia Z5

1358

4134

Samsung Galaxy Note 5

1111

3686

BlackBerry PRIV

1196

3396

LG G4

1190

3313

Google Nexus 5X

1188

3198

In 3DMark’s IceStorm Unlimited test, this is how the iPhone SE compares:

Handset

3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result

Apple iPhone SE

29276

Samsung Galaxy S7

28903

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

28402

Apple iPhone 6s

28171

Google Nexus 6P

24703

Sony Xperia Z5

19197

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus

17981

One feature not terribly common in mid-range phones that the Apple iPhone SE does incorporate is NFC. As with Apple's other iPhones, it's a locked-down implementation that allows you only to use it for Apple Pay functions.

Battery life

Poor battery life

No wireless charging

A smaller phone frame is always a power challenge, simply because it gives a manufacturer less space to actually pack in batteries. Nowhere is that more true than with the Apple iPhone SE, which features battery life that can only be seen as woeful. Apple's put a lot of work into making newer iPhones that have at least decent battery life, but the Apple iPhone SE remains a throwback life that struggles to get through a single day's battery usage.

Even against contemporary phones of its time it wasn't impressive as a battery performer. Here's how it compared against a range of contemporary devices using Geekbench 3's battery test:

Handset

Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration

Geekbench 3 Battery Score

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

11:55:00

7150

Samsung Galaxy S7

10:01:20

6013

Samsung Galaxy Note 5

9:18:00

5580

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+

8:24:10

5041

Apple iPhone 6S Plus

7:48:10

4681

Google Nexus 5X

7:14:20

4062

Samsung Galaxy S6

6:51:30

4115

Google Nexus 6P

6:39:20

3754

Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3

5:42:00

2276

Sony Xperia Z5

5:41:30

3414

LG G4

5:27:50

3224

BlackBerry PRIV

5:25:40

3256

Huawei P8 Lite

4:39:40

2768

Apple iPhone SE

4:27:10

2671

Apple iPhone 6s

3:52:10

2321

Newer iPhones also feature wireless charging using the Qi standard, but if you want that for the iPhone SE, you'll have to drop a third-party Qi-compatible charging case onto it.

Verdict

Apple's lack of updates make the iPhone SE a poor buy.

Only worthwhile if you can score a bargain.

Apple released the iPhone SE in 2016, updated it with new internal storage options in 2017 while keeping the rest of its innards the same in 2017. Since then, while rumours have persisted that it's looked to upgrade the iPhone SE range, we've seen nothing.

That makes the iPhone SE a less-than-compelling prospect at its full retail price, simply because it's much older technology at a price where you can do a whole lot better right now.

Where the iPhone SE may have value is if you truly value the classic iPhone 5 design and can score a genuine bargain on a handset. For everyone else, you're better off either investing in a newer iPhone model, or if your budget is tight, doing considerably better in the mid-range Android phone market.

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